Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:11 pm on 15 March 2022.
I also want to reiterate the committee's point about transparency from both the Welsh Government and the UK Government. It's a regular charade, isn't it, from the UK Government primarily, when they announce additional funding, they're giving more money, but, as we know, they're also taking with the other hand very often. But this constant confusion that we're facing over whether money is new money or whether it is actually additional money or not, it leads to endless bickering between the Welsh Government and the UK Government. It's unedifying, and it really isn't a good look for either Government, to be honest. It confuses the public, it confuses us as politicians very often, and it needs to be addressed once and for all.
When I chaired the Finance Committee in the last Senedd, we tried to knock heads together on this, but to no avail, unfortunately, and I therefore want to underline my support to the current committee's calls for further clarity around these announcements—as I say, initially and primarily from the UK Government, but also the Welsh Government—where there is disagreement. Both need to show us their workings, so that we have real transparency and much better clarity on whether these consequentials and these allocations are actually additional or not.